Unofficial English translation, for informational purposes only
On June 28, 2024, two priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, hieromonks of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), Fr. Ivan Levytsky and Fr. Bohdan Heleta, C.Ss.R., were released from Russian prison. They were arrested in occupied Berdyansk on November 16, 2022. For a long period, there was no information about them.
“We are receiving very disturbing signals that they are being tortured on a daily basis. We have been seeking their release for more than a year and a half, appealing to various international institutions. We know that they are alive, thanks be to God. We are also cooperating with our authorities, looking for opportunities to release them,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav said in a recent interview with Ukrinform.
On behalf of His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Bishop Andriy Khimyak, Auxiliary Bishop of the Kyiv Archeparchy, and Fr. Oleksa Petriv, Head of the Department of External Relations of the UGCC in Ukraine, met the confessors of faith from prison. They conveyed to Fathers Ivan and Bohdan the words of great joy of the Head of the Church and all the faithful who constantly prayed for this day to come.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav expressed his sincere gratitude to the Apostolic See for the rescue of the priests of the UGCC. He sent special words of gratitude to Pope Francis, Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the entire Vatican diplomatic corps. Special gratitude for mediation was expressed to Cardinal Matteo Zuppi and Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine. Each of them made an invaluable personal contribution to making this event a reality.
Since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, priests Ivan Levytsky and Bohdan Heleta have chosen to remain with their people in the temporarily occupied territories. They served both the Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic communities, giving a light of hope to people under occupation. They were arrested, then some military items were planted in the church and accused of illegal possession of weapons. There were reports that they were being tortured mercilessly to extract a confession to a crime they did not commit.
For some time there was no information about the prisoners. Only in May, His Beatitude Sviatoslav received the news that Fathers Ivan and Bohdan were alive and there was hope for their release. On June 28, this day came.
Information Department of the UGCC